Housing: Figures suggest robust growth in Northern Ireland average price

House prices were highest in Lisburn and Castlereagh

House prices in Northern Ireland grew robustly in the third quarter of this year, official figures suggest.

Prices were up by 3.1% compared to the second quarter and were 2.1% higher than the same period last year.

That took the average price to £179,530 with a range from £160,396 in Fermanagh and Omagh to £207,824 in Lisburn and Castlereagh.

There were quarterly price increases in all local government districts aside from Ards and North Down.

The figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) cover almost all sales, including cash deals.

House prices in Northern Ireland had fallen for two consecutive quarters at the end of 2022 and start of 2023 but prices have now risen for two consecutive quarters.

In cash terms, the average price is now roughly back to where it was at the end of 2006.

Weakening housing markets

That came ahead of a bubble and crash, which saw the average price touch £225,000 in 2007 before collapsing to less than £100,000 by 2012.

Prices also rose sharply during the Covid pandemic as people sought more space, enjoyed historically low mortgage rates and benefitted from a stamp duty holiday.

The average price in Northern Ireland is almost 30% higher than it was before the pandemic at the end of 2019.

• NI house prices fall

• Surprise increase in 2023 house prices

Housing markets across the UK have been weakening as rising interest rates make mortgage payments more expensive.

Some analysts suggest that the relatively strong price performance in Northern Ireland reflects a weak supply of properties coming onto the market with a significant slow down in the number of new houses being built.

Official figures suggest fewer than 4,000 new houses were completed in the first nine months of this year.

That compares to more than 5,000 during the same period in 2021 and 2022 and is also lower than the same period in 2020 when construction work was significantly curtailed by the pandemic.

Earlier figures from HMRC show there has also been a big fall in the number of housing transactions in Northern Ireland this year.

House sales were down by 18% in the first nine months of 2023 at 17,410 transactions, compared to 21,300 in the same period of 2022.

The third quarter of the year was the busiest so far but was still down by 15% compared to 2022.